The Protector of the Light
by Humanitys-Shortest
Summary: "Let's stay together Yagami-kun." He whispered in a soft voice while resting his chin atop the boys head. He didn't know what he was saying or why, but he meant it with every ounce of his being. He wanted to protect the boy from harm at all times, no matter if he was only a child himself; he wanted to stay with the boy.' (AU)
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Protector of the Light  
Author: Humanitys-Shortest  
Rating: T  
Full Summary: "Let's stay together Yagami-kun." He whispered in a soft voice while resting his chin atop the boys head. He didn't know what he was saying or why, but he meant it with every ounce of his being. He wanted to protect the boy from harm at all times, no matter if he was only a child himself; he wanted to stay with the boy.''  
Paring: LxLight (Lawlight)

Disclaimer: I do not own the anime or manga known as 'Death Note,' and neither do I own the characters included in this fanfiction. All of the rights belong to Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba for their amazing work!

This was orignally a roleplay that me and my best internet buddie has wrote up on Instagram. Yup, because that's just how amazing we are :) We are still in the process of finishing the story, but it has already turned out to be such a beautiful, heart-warming roleplay that will forever bring tears to my eyes~

A big thank you to Coal, aka my Marshall Lee for writing this lovely story with me. I can't wait to meet you someday 3  
Love, your bubba ;3

It was utterly pitch black; all of the lights in the Yagami household were switched off. The only inkling of light was coming through the slightly open curtains from the glistening and beaming street lamps. The disgusting scent of copper was obnoxiousley strong, and the stillc-lear visions were vivid and vile from what happened mere moments ago in little Light's mind. There he was, sitting on his mother's and fathers bed, curiousley watching as his sweet mother sang happily to a song on the radio, while father was cooking them an evening meal. It was then, that out of no-where, that the sound of smashing windows echoed through the large house, followed by several spine-chilling screams, terrifying shouts and slashes, the breaking of objects...

Before he knew it, the young, brunette boy was hiding, cowering almost, under the exact bed he was only sitting on with laughter a few minutes ago. But now, there was no singing. No happiness. No smiles. Just the sight of dark blood, his mother's lifeless body, and broken objects scattered throughout the room. The small radio was creating a disturbing noise now, as it had been knocked onto the floor; untuned and broken. It was giving the graphic scene a much more eerie and chilling feeling; something you'd on usually see in a horror movie or something. But oh no, this was no horror movie. This, was the harsh reality, as hard as it was to believe.

The young Yagami boy couldn't find the power in his small feet to move from his bundled-up postion, shaking vividly and fighting back his terrible cries that threatened to escape his thin, extremely pale lips. No physical damage had come to the boy, but his porcelain face looked as if a lot of blood had been drained from the tan colour that was orignally upon his skin. Light's arms were wrapped around his own, cold frame, as if in attempt to keep him warm and still. Physical damage may not have be caused - but the emotional damage was undescribable. His cheeks were stained with wet tears, along with his once shining eyes turning bloodshot. What he had just witnessed... He was young, extremely young, of course... But he was smart enough to know exactly what had just happened. It was shocking how the person who broke into his beloved home didn't even notice him, in his mother's feeble attempts to hide him as quick as possible; thus leading to her own life being snatched away from her. It wasn't long before the loud sounds of police sirens called from down the road, as some neighbour must have dialed for help. Light stayed completely silent, now. He was scared, tremendously so. What did his parents do... What did he do, to deserve this...?

Outside however, many police cars gathered at the crime scene within minutes, and stood next to them was a young, eleven year old boy with raven, spikey hair; gazing at the building itself. Acumpanied by an older man, the young boy stayed silent in pure thought.

"Ryuzaki, are you sure you want to do this? I can't be sure of what lies in that house right now. It is a murder, after all... You don't have do this..." The older, grey haired man spoke, knowing very well how much the young boy loved solving cases, even at such a tender age. But this...this was a murder scene,which could potentially scar the eleven year olds mind.

"I'm sure, Watari. I want to see a crime scene for myself instead of just having to read from reports and files." The boy stated calmly; to calm for the painful situation before him. That was the thing about him, though. He always managed to stay so, calm...

"Alright, Ryuzaki. If that's what you wish, I can not stop you. You should know that this is the home to the Yagami family. A man and woman, middle aged, along with a child, five, if I recall correctly." L was honestly shocked at the new information he had just received from the older male. A five year old child...? But-what if-he was murdered in there as well...? Those details were currently unknown to the ousiders of the eeriee building.

"Ah, yes...That was the one. Light Yagami. That's the boys name." The man claimed as he broke from his pondering thought. Several minutes past, before a single police officer confronted L. "Ryuzaki - the parents of the child have... Have been murdered. It seems as though by a knife of some sort. But... the child... He is no where to be found..." The un-easy police man stuttered slightly with his speach. No matter how many digusting cases the police force had to take on, they were all equally as scarring - no matter how much time continued to pass. It was something extremely diffucult to get use to. The thought alone of there being people out there that could destroy a single persons live within a few seconds was such a daunting fact. And, as prooven, it could happen at any given, unexpected time, too.

"I'll go take a look for myself, if that's ok with you, officer?"...

It wasn't long before L made his way directly into the building. If the boys body wasn't there, he must of either been taken by the murderer, or, perhaps, hiding still in the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryuzaki was determined to see an actually crime scene with his own two eyes for the very first time; as apposed to only seeing picture - they where so close minded and only seen from a handful of angles while being somewhere in person allowed for him to see from every possible angle, to feel things, to really put his mind in the shoes of the murderer. Hardly descriptive texts and low-quality images just wouldn't do. So, there was no way he would let anyone deter him from his chosen course of action; it was ridiculous trying to convince him otherwise. The small, ebony-haired male had already read case files about a large variety of murders and not seeing it in person wouldn't change the fact that it had happened; nothing would.

So, the only alternative now was too catch the person who'd done it. Now the raven haired boy was upstairs, ducking under yellow caution tape and into the crime scene; thinking and believing that he was mentally prepared for something so horrific and ghastly. However, his facial expression had stayed completely calm while he examined the real crime scene with panda like eyes that absorbed directly every detail.

Despite this, right then and there - even with his utterly relaxed facade - L wanted to bend over and empty the contents of his knotting stomach onto the floor to maybe remove this sick, disgusting feeling that was slowly rising. Although, it probably wouldn't help, and he calmly reminded himself of that. The raven's current priority right now was finding out what happened to the young, feeble boy, and then the wicked murderer, and then he would move on, there wasn't time to mourn for him. No time to dwell on the case.

The room was a wreck, signalling the obvious struggle while the eerie sound of a now broken radio sounded throughout the blood stained and strewn about room. In the middle of the area, on the carpeted floor laid the mangled body of a woman who had been stabbed more times than actually necessary; which suggested it was someone the victim new, someone that maybe hated her or the husband.. Either that, or the other option was that the person was just extremely psychotic - which wasn't as likely, but if it was the case they would find out later if there where more cases similar this one. It wasn't a factor that could be instantly ruled out, after all. Everything to the most excruciating detail needed to be considered.

So..The radio had been on when the murderer attacked, and although there where signs of an obvious struggle, there where no signs of an attempt at escaping the killer during the attack; it was only a pure fight. It became clear, that there was something in this room that needed protecting, and if L's intuition was correct, it was the child.

However, that alone couldn't tell him for certain if the boy was still here or not. Ryuzaki had to check the direction the struggle had gone, everything that was knocked over in the opposite direction of the door meaning that the killer had knocked them over while coming into the room and no one had struggled getting out..So now, it became even more likely the boy was still here.. But what if he had picked the boy up and left right after he committed the murders? The police hadn't taken but five minutes to arrive after the call that was completed.. Five minutes after the murder which had been said by one of the crime scene analyzers at the front of the house so that meant he, or she had ten minutes to murder two people and make a clean get away, making it even less likely that they took the boy with them.

Even if they had, now he had to think about motive for taking such a young boy, ransom? No. They wouldn't have killed the parents if it where for ransom, so there was really no motive either. Now, L was accurately 98.7℅ sure that the timid child was still here - which was enough for him to move on to what the mother would have done in her awful position. If he where her, he would've done everything he could to hide the boy from the psychopath and then protect him..So where had they been when this first happened...The ravenette glanced around the room with a thoughtful expression.

The bed.

This thought process had taken place all in a matter of seconds for the genius, rising detective, as he walked quietly to the loud radio that was still playing eerie static that faded in and out of weird songs he hadn't heard before, as he switched the horrid contraption off. Now that silence had finally been achieved - L was able to make out small whimpers to now be evident to his ears. So he was right. How did he go about doing this without scaring the younger boy though? L was a genius, yes..But when it came to things like this, he might as well have been mentally impaired, although it was more along the lines of socially impaired for that matter.

"Yagami-kun?" L finally manage to whisper, sinking down quietly onto his hands and knees about a yard away from the large bed, so he wouldn't scare the boy in the process of trying to help him. He now was able to get a slight glimpse of a small, trembling form in the dim lighting of the room; which was not at all aided by the darkness of underneath the bed. "Yagami-kun, i'm Here to help you." The raven-haired male murmured, inching slightly closer and reaching out an unusually pale hand with slender fingers in a cautious manner, almost like he where dealing with a frightened animal rather than an actual human being.

However, when the small, brunette boy heard the sound of people entering the building, he immediately forced himself to be as quiet as possible - despite the immense trembling of his tiny frame. He was scared, and tremendously so. After what just happened.. His trust had been lowered a great deal, and even for as young as he was - he knew it would take a lot of effort to build that trust up again. Any sign of moving life form seemed to scare him to almost death. He couldn't count the amount of uniform-wearing people he'd seen in the past five minute. All he knew, was that he couldn't stop shaking, though.

Small whimpers kept threatening to leave his pale lips, somewhat paler then usual; while his long hair drooped over his eyes. While the tall people started wandering around the copper-scented building, putting up yellow tape and analyzing the dead bodies.. Light couldn't look. He was terrified for his life. It all went suddenly quiet after a few minutes, until once again, another person walked into the room. Light couldn't see him clearly, but from that softer sound of his steps and the shadow from the light outside, he could tell he was much, much younger and shorter then the other people he'd seen only a few mere minutes ago. Even so, he still cowered uncontrollably from what he had just horrifically witnessed. But when the other person began to bend down to the floor, Light let out a loud yell and moved even further backwards when a hand was reached forward towards him.

L couldn't help but frown slightly at the suprised yell that came from the small boy. The ebony-haired male creased his eyebrows together slightly in something he analyzed to be worry..What was this he felt for the boy? Sympathy? Yes..He took extreme pity on the brunette; who wouldn't after what he had witnessed? The eleven year old boy then decided he would have to look after him, and he would wait for him to come out no matter how long it took without scaring him. After all, his priority was the living. And he knew that his mother must of fought a difficult battle to keep her son safe from any horrific harm.

The raven haired boy then sat criss cross apple sauce, as apposed to his normal position that he'd usually make himself comfortable in. He wanted the small brunette to see he wasn't doing anything untrustworthy or suspicious. He wanted the frightened, fragile boy to trust him.

"I need this room cleared." L murmured, moving his gaze towards a single man at the bedroom door frame - receiving an almost challenging look from the analysis's. L, obviously returned a a blank, unwavering and calm expression. "And tell Watari I have found the boy."

This seemed to unnerve them enough for the few other people in there to nod and take their leave, bringing the bodies with them since they where done with the corpses anyway.

"Are you scared of the dark, Yagami?" He mused idly before slowly standing and padding quietly over to the light switch, where he turned the cooling and relaxing fan on, making things more visible, except for the disgusting blood, which was now hidden with a large, sheet as not to traumatize the small male further then he was so already.

After the light was turned on however, the ravenette took his seat back in front of the bed, at a safe distance before peeking at the young boy with a curious, panda like eye from behind raven colored hair.

"Won't you come out? Its only me here, no one else. I promise." He asked, his voice softer than he ever knew it could be while he looked the brunette over with care and worry.

On the young, brunette child's side - the voice of the other, unknown male in the room sounded very soft, gentle and calm to Light. Somehow, it made him feel more relaxed and... Safe. The one word that he thought he wouldn't feel for a little while. Once he heard other people entering the room, and what sounded like the moving of something heavy, along with some sheets being placed over the blood stained floor, Light waited until he was certain that it was just the other young man in the room now. Even though he was clearly being asked questions, the brunette boy was way to startled to say anything. It felt as if he had lost his voice, in which his throat felt extremely dry as well. His cheeks felt very wet indeed, most likely stained with the sticky moisture that was his tears; and his eyes drooped from being awfully tired and tenderly weak.. Probably from all the crying, now that he thought about it.

L didn't mind that the boy wasn't saying anything, actually he had expected the quiet and nothing more. The pure shock had probably caused the brunette to loose his speech, hopefully not for a long period of time though..But, for now, it was only expected that he couldn't find his voice, in a sense it had been scared away.

The ravenette stayed quiet now, watching for any sign that the boy wanted to come out from underneath the darkness. The poor soul was probably so weary, not only physically from his trembling and sobbing but mentally from the horrible things he had been made to witness at such a delicate age. No one that young should have to experience this type of disgraceful trauma. The detective found himself only wanting for the boy to come out and be taken care of; he probably needed a shock blanket and something warm to drink.

Despite this, It took a few minutes for Light to finally build up the courage to just stick one hand out from underneath the bed, but nothing more. He still couldn't see the other man, though, due to his soft locks of hair covering his blood-shot eyes.

Finally, when a hand was outstretched from underneath the dusty bed, the panda like boy took the opportunity to gently cup the small thing in his own two hands. The boys skin was very cold compared to his own, and there was no telling how cold the rest of his body must feel if his hand alone was like ice. Ryuzaki was gentle and cautious with both his careful movements and his thoughtful words; wanting to coax the boy out of hiding into somewhere he could be safe. For some reason L felt...protective over the wounded and hurt boy. "Yagami-kun you must be cold. Do you feel like coming out yet?" He knew the boy wouldn't answer him but if he talked about things like warmth it would do well to keep the brunette from going into further shock. He didn't deserve any more pain then he was already having to endure..

When Light felt the warm, soft hands of the other person enclose around his single, cold one, a sharp shiver went up Light's spine. A good kind of shiver, though. He felt more comfortable now around the other person who he was yet to see. He was so warm, it felt so nice considering how cold he currently was.

Light, without even considering his next actions, began to shuffle on his behind from out of the bed. However, his light-brown hair still covered his overly blood shot eyes; making it diffiuclt to the raven-haired male to see the child's actual facial features. Light didn't know what it was about the other person, but he made him feel safe again. Now his parents had.. Gone.. He needed someone. Someone to reassure him that everything would be OK. Just that thought alone send Light into a stream of tears once more, but unlike other children would normally wail with emotion - Light was silently crying - very unlike a young five year old such as himself.

Even more so, the way this mystery person said "Yagami - Kun," made him seem very formal and trustworthy... Light couldn't help but feel drawn to the voice. It was not like the cackling laughter of the man who had brutally murdered his parents. No..It was sweet, like honey or candy - and purely gentle and caring.

L was relieved in all honesty though, when the very small male began to shuffle out from under the bed on his backside.. At least he was trusted enough for that much, and considering the trauma that Light had just unwillingly endured; even that was remarkable. The detective had planned on continuing to take it extremely slow and cautiously instead of bringing the boy too him all at once, but when he saw the silent tears that again streaked the brunettes paled cheeks, the ravenette couldn't just let him lay there that way, cold, terrified, and without some form of gentle comfort. No. He had to do something. He felt...moved. It was an odd feeling to want to comfort the boy who's eyes he had yet to catch a glimpse of from behind cinnamon brown hair, since he wasn't accustomed to the concept..but nonetheless, a pure feeling that twisted in his gut told him he had to help. He had seen this on casual movies before where a person wrapped their arms around the weeping frame of a friend and would pull them into the warmth of their chest, where they would continue to sob until they had nothing left in them to cry about, or more like they had run out of tears. Which is exactly what he did, although still careful with his movements, he acted more quickly until the boy was safely nuzzled against his chest where it was warm; where his heart beat steadily against his chest, and where the boys tears could find a place to rest on the white material of the detectives usual long sleeved shirt.

As for Light, when the little brunette boy felt larger arms wrap around his extremely small frame, his eyes widened in actual shock. He didn't expect to be gently hugged by someone he only just met - well, considering that, he actually hadn't even seen what he looked like... But never-the-less, little Light began to snuggle into the opposite persons warm chest, listening to the relaxing sound of his steady heartbeat, which seemed to comfort him a great deal, while his tears silently trailed down his pale cheeks and reached the cotton material of the other persons shirt. Now the horrible static of the broken radio was gone and replaced by the soft, tender melody of the other male's heartbeat.. Light felt his tense frame slowly beginning to relax. Clearly, he was a very smart child, so he felt bad for confiding in this person he had yet to know the name of. Yet, his little, tiny hands grasped the shirt of the other person, as if he was afraid to let go ever again. He didn't know what to do, or what was going to happen, now. He didn't want to be taken away to someone he didn't know, and obviously he couldn't live alone...He decided, that whoever this person was deciding to comfort him, that he wanted to stay with him. From just being hugged by him, Light could tell he was much older them himself. Perhaps double his age, but still, Light was thankful for this other person to stay with him and wait patiently for him to come out from underneath the bed- despite the obvious trauma and pain. He didn't want to be handed over to one of the other officers, or left alone without any help. No, he wanted to stay with THIS specific person.

L closed his eyes slowly when the boy snuggled close, noticing how the fragile, timid boy was clinging onto the front of the detectives shirt for dear life; while it was soaked with hot salty tears.. Though, the raven really didn't mind at all. The older boy gently reached up with one small hand, that still managed to be much larger than the brunettes own petite hand and began to run pale, slender fingers through a soft mass of cinnamon colored hair. Whatever this was that L was doing, to be working effectively; so he continued on stroking through the small boys soft hair, while rocking him in a gentle and carefully manner - hoping that maybe, it may calm the Yagami boy down enough for sleep. He deserved to have a short break from this living nightmare he was now a part of; with absolutely no way to escape it. It was a strange thought, that the boy only seemed to cry silently..Unlike any five year old the ebony-haired detective had ever witnessed before. Normally, they would sob uncontrollably over dropping his ice cream or something petty like that.. Tut this here was a much different story than dropping ice cream. The boys parents had just been brutally stabbed to death while he was practically forced to watch - and here he was; sobbing silently into the ravens shirt.

L didn't know much about the boy at all, in fact he hadn't even seen the small males eyes yet. But he could already tell he wasn't some normal five year old boy; there was something special about him that made L feel protective of him and want to make sure he would be okay, not just now though, he wanted to protect him always.. Which was indeed a strange whim that the detective had never had before - but, it was as if the moment he had touched the boys hand, this was a set fate. "Let's stay together Yagami-kun." He whispered in a soft voice while resting his chin atop the boys head, he didn't know what he was saying or why but he meant it with every ounce of his being he meant it, he wanted to protect the boy from harm at all times no matter if he was only a child himself, he wanted to stay with the boy.

The gentle, caressing feeling of the other persons soft fingers running through his light brown locks made the younger male..Smile, ever so lightly. Even though the wet tears still managed to fall from his bloodshot eyes, the completely exhausted kid still managed to smile upon his tan features, due to this one, single person who was holding him right now - like he was the most precious thing in the world. Like he needed all the comfort he could get. Light knew nothing about him, yet he made him feel as if there was some hope left. As if he wasn't alone. Thats what scared him. The thought of being alone. He was always with his parents - his mother mostly; due to his dad pretty much being at work all of the time at the Japanese Police Force. But despite this, he had such a close relationship with both of them for five whole years. And now, within minutes, all that was taken away from him; like it was worth nothing at all. Absolutely everything was taken away from him within a very short instant. He was the only child, too. His other family, such as his grandpa and grandma lived in other countries - so he barely got to see them at all. It was just him now. And he would do anything just to stay with this one person..

Before he knew it, the little brunette boy began to drift into a sleep. A rough one, of course. But at least the emotional pain was no longer troubling Light. His sleeping body rested in the comfortable arms of the older man, and his hair fell away from his closed eyes. The gentle rocking was extremely soothing-so with his already tired state, he had no trouble sleeping quickly. His tiny hands were still clasped tightly onto the soft cotton material though; he was way to scared, even his sleep, to be taken away by another person. Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard the other male speak once more: ''Let's stay together, Yagami-Kun.'' Somehow, this /did/ feel like fate. Though, the young child was completely oblivious to the fact that this was what the the other man thought, too.

But, for now, Light was at the most comfort he could emotionally and psychically be for the time being.


End file.
